On December 1, 2017, Bobby Cagle became Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). With an annual budget of approximately $2.4 billion and over 9,000 employees, Mr. Cagle oversees the largest child welfare agency in the nation, serving about 34,000 children, including 18,000 children in out-of-home care.
Most recently, Mr. Cagle served as the Director of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services. Appointed by Governor Nathan Deal in June 2014, he served as the chief executive officer of the state agency providing child welfare services, and nutrition and economic assistance. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Cagle had also served the agency as Director of Legislative and External Affairs and as Family Services Director where he led policy development on child welfare, domestic violence, sexual assault, and provider contracting.
Mr. Cagle also served as the Commissioner of Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, the agency responsible for the early care and education of hundreds of thousands of Georgia’s children. Earlier positions from his time in North Carolina include Deputy Director of Youth and Family Services for the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, Director of the Graham County Department of Social Services, and Judicial District Manager for the North Carolina Department of Corrections.
Director Cagle is a member of the Board of Advisors for the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social Work, member of the Board of Advisors of the Barton Child Law and Policy Center at Emory University School of Law, member of the Executive Committee for the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators (NAPCWA).
Director Cagle’s numerous honors include being awarded the prestigious Annie E. Casey Children and Families Fellowship in 2016, awarded for Distinguished Social Work – Public Service by the Georgia Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, named a Notable Georgian by Georgia Trend Magazine in 2015, 2016, and 2017, receiving the 2015 Hearing Children’s Voices Award from SAFEPATH Children’s Advocacy Center, receiving a 2013 United Way of Greater Atlanta Women’s Leadership Council Excellence in Education Award, and receiving the 2012 Interfaith Children’s Movement of Georgia Leadership Award.
A native of Robbinsville, North Carolina, Director Cagle earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Sociology and a Master of Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
